The Start Of Life
by Kari Kurofai
Summary: This could be the start of something new . . . JayBreeze mild slash.


The Start Of Life

This is more or less, the prequel to Something To Live For. Hence, it's kinda weird title. But it can be read as just an individual fic.

Breezepaw's amber eyes cracked open. He was lying in a nest of soft moss inside of a small cave. Where . . . What . . . He raised a paw to his head and rubbed his eyes. He couldn't remember what had happened. He'd been hunting, right? A squirrel or something. For a contest. Was today still that stupid special gathering? He didn't know. What had happened after he chased the squirrel?

"Good, you're awake." A cat with silvery-gray fur and beautiful clear-blue eyes leaned over him. "You've been passed out forever."

"W-what happened?" Breezepaw murmured. His voice felt thick, unused. Like he'd swallowed a load of dirt. Who was this cat? Not one of his clan mates, that's for sure.

"You were hunting, and you and Lionpaw fell into an old badger set. You almost died," The cat said simply.

So he had swallowed a load of dirt. Perfect. "How did we get out?"

"I found you, shortly after you fell in, and dug you out," the cat said.

"How . . . How'd you know where we were?"

The cat looked over at him, "oh, that? I saw it in a dream."

A dream? Oh. Then this cat was a medicine cat. Or a medicine cat apprentice. He could tell by his scent that he was from Thunderclan. So did that mean he was in Thunderclan right now? He shook his head. That sucks. The last place he wanted to

be . . . He watched the cat now. He was nosing some herbs and rolling them into a little bundle.

"Here, eat this," the gray cat mewed, pushing the bundle towards him. "you'll feel better after you do. There's some poppy seeds in there, so that'll help you sleep tonight." he turned back around and continued sorting through the various herbs on the ground.

Breezepaw watched him with fascination. He had always been curious about the duties of a medicine cat. And Barkface was too much of a grump to let him watch. And his father . . . Well, his father, for some reason or another, wouldn't let him hang around anywhere near medicine cats. But his father wasn't here, was he.

"What's your name?"

The cat looked up, a little surprised by the sudden question. "Jaypaw."

Breezepaw nodded. So this was Jaypaw. He'd heard the name before. Lionpaw's brother. He continued to watch the young medicine cat apprentice. He was pawing at the herbs, one at a time. Smelling them, and putting them into separate piles. That's weird. All the leaves had distinctly different shapes, why did he have to smell them, and touch them like that? How strange.

"Have you eaten those yet?" Jaypaw asked, glancing at him, "you won't get any better if you don't."

Breezepaw felt shock lace through him. What did he mean, "have you eaten those yet?" the herbs were still sitting at the Windclan cat's paws, untouched. Even with just that glance, he should've been able to see them. They were . . . Right there . . .

The Windclan apprentice rose to his paws and approached the Thunderclan cat. Jaypaw looked up at the sudden movement, his ears twitching. Breezepaw could see it now. The way the blue eyes looked at him, but not really _at_ him. It was as if looking in a cat's general direction had become a habit, though it was unnecessary. He stopped, letting his front paws touch the other cat's.

"You . . . You can't see . . ."

Jaypaw's face was slightly downcast at this remark. "Hmm . . . So you noticed. That's right. I'm blind."

What was he supposed to say to that? I'm sorry? No, somehow he thought the Thunderclan cat wouldn't want to hear that.

"What's it like?"

A faint smile crept across Jaypaw's face. "Mmm . . . It's like seeing. I can hear you, smell you. I can feel where you're paws are touching mine. And I can sense that you're nervous. So it's almost like seeing, just without the colors and stuff."

"Really?" Breezepaw smiled. "That's good then. Making the most of what you have. Do you regret not being able to see?"

"Every day. I wanted to be warrior, so very badly. I wanted to prove to my clan, to everyone . . . That I could be someone, even without my eyes . . ." Jaypaw's voice was full of remorse.

Breezepaw flicked his tail over the smaller tom's ears. "aren't you already doing that? Being a medicine cat is something important to the clan. Even if you can't fight for them, isn't standing behind those who do fight . . . Isn't that enough. You're relied on. And that's something to be proud of." He smiled, "I owe my life to you."

The silver-gray medicine cat's eyes clouded over, and Breezepaw swore he saw tears in the corners of those blue eyes. "Thank you . . ." Jaypaw whispered.

The Windclan cat merely nodded. A useless gesture to someone who was blind, but he knew Jaypaw understood. He felt that he couldn't say anymore. The look on Jaypaw's face when he'd said that . . . It was definitely a look of joy. And Breezepaw couldn't help but think that he wanted to make the Thunderclan cat make that face again.

He shook his head roughly. No. Jaypaw was a Thunderclan medicine cat. He shouldn't be thinking things like that about an enemy clan. But . . .

"I'd like to make him smile . . ."

RANDOM AUTHOR RAMBLE

Ello! Here it is finally! The little prequel to Something To Live For! The details may be a little hazy, sorry about that. My copy of "The Sight" was stolen, and I didn't feel like getting on a waiting list the library just to work out the nitty gritty on this fic. I always wondered exactly when Breezepaw found out Jaypaw was blind, and since I couldn't think of an actual time in the books, I made one. And if I messed up and there really was a time, forgive me. Ehehehehe . . . Please, all of you, send me inspiration for more warriors slash! Cause after this fic, my ideas have practically run out!

Ah, except for a multi chapter BerryBirch I have planned. That one is still working itself out in my mind, but I hope to have the first chapter out soon. Why are there no BerryBirch fics here? Its like . . . Practically cannon . . . ^-_-^

Oh, and yeah, the summary for this ficy . . . If u can guess where it's from, I'll give u a present.


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